Customer Reviews

The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation

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Dispite the pretty cover to this work, this is not a "coffee table book" about pretty butterflys. This is an indepth collection of scientific articles addressing all aspects of the Monarch Butterfly. Sections include Breeding Biology, Migration Biology, Overwintering Biology and Integrated Biology. The collection of articles and monographs is very extensive and very technical. The reader should be warned that this is in no way a light read. On the other hand, if you want information on the monarch Butterfly, I cannot think of a single volume which will deliver more information that you have here. Recommend this speciality book quite highly. It is well worth the price.

Instead of repeating other reviewers, I focus on some basic data provided by this scholarly anthology. Did you know that, for some females, as many as 55% of eggs laid are infertile? (Prysby, p. 34). A female monarch may lay 300-400 eggs in her lifetime. (Oberhauser, p. 3). From hatching to pupation, the monarch larva increases its mass by a factor of about 2,000. (Oberhauser, p. 4).

Intentional outdoor protection of monarch eggs and young larvae, from predatory insects and other natural enemies, can increase the early 5-day survival rate from a few percent to nearly 40%. (Prysby, p. 31). Otherwise, the monarch survival rate up to the fifth instar larvae is on the order of 10-20%. (Prysby and Oberhauser, p. 19, Prysby, p. 27), and less than 10% [some say about 4%] to adulthood. (Oberhauser, p. 4).

Each fall millions of the orange and black butterflies fly south to Mexico for the winter, then return to the United States and Canada in the spring. These butterflies, which make up the entire breeding stock of monarchs for the Midwest and Eastern United States and Canada, form one of the best-known spectacles to nature lovers.

This book includes essays by 46 contributors from three continents. The essays fit well together because they document the 2001 Monarch Population Dynamics Conference, which aimed "to understand the annual dynamics of a migratory insect with a continental distribution."

The book is divided into four sections: Breeding, Migration, Overwintering and Integrated Biology. Each section begins with an overview chapter followed by more detailed chapters. A third of the book is dedicated to overwintering biology. Wintering populations are very compact (up to 60 million individuals per hectare) and vulnerable to winter storms and land use change. The book contains a chapter on monarch conservation policy in the Mexican wintering grounds. That description of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is a highlight of the book.

The book encouraged me contribute to the Reserve through the WWF. That's a great way to keep current on new findings about these beautiful insects. It also encouraged me to plant milkweeds in our garden, a beautiful plant made more beautiful by making it possible to observe all phases of the Monarch's summer life span. The book offers other suggestions on how to learn more about Monarchs.

The articles are science based although aimed at "citizen scientists". I would have liked an introductory chapter covering essential features of the insect and its life in order to be better prepared for the more detailed analysis later in the book. (Milkweed, Monarchs and More: A Field Guide to the Invertebrate Community in the Milkweed Patch by by Ba Rea makes an excellent choice.) Even without such an introduction, this is an excellent study on this beautiful butterfly.

Robert C. Ross 2008